Pesature set to lead Brewster softball

The Brewster High junior catcher begins concentrating long before she steps into the batter's box, smooths the dirt with her feet and digs in.

"A lot of it is mental preparation. I can't just go up to bat. I have to take my time and get ready," Pesature says. "When I'm on double deck I'll put my batting gloves on and my helmet and I'll start timing the pitcher.

"For some reason - I don't know why - but when I get into the batter's box, I need to erase all the marks. I can't help it," she adds.

Then she offers herself verbal reminders.

"Keep your head down."

"Hands high."

"Level swing."

"I talk to myself at the plate," Pesature says. "It helps me. That's what works for me."

Does it ever.

All she did last season was compile a robust .506 average, going 45-of-89 with 10 doubles, four triples, a .708 slugging percentage and a team-high 30 RBIs in 29 games for the Bears, who won the Section 1, Class A title, reached the state Final Four and finished 25-4.

"I was really committed last year. I put in a lot of work," says Pesature, who fined-tuned her stroke during hours of practice at home and at Frozen Ropes.

As a freshman, she batted close to .400 as Brewster, the Section 1, Class B champion, went 23-2.

Obviously, Pesature has excellent hand-eye coordination and a fundamentally sound swing. But it's her intelligence and mature approach that helps separate her as a hitter, according to Brewster coach Michelle Gosh, a former Marist College shortstop.

"I think what sets her apart is - even though she's young - she's a great thinker at the plate. She knows what pitches have been thrown to her. She learns from every at-bat. She knows the pitchers really well and I think it helps that she's a catcher," Gosh says. And she's patient. She knows what she wants to hit. She knows where in the count she is and she waits for her pitch."

Pesature's swing doesn't crack under pressure, and neither does she. Between her summer travel team, the Brewster Rockets, and her high school squad, she always seems to come through in the clutch.

"She's also got an attitude," Gosh says. "She's not intimidated by anybody. Even as a freshman and sophomore in the big situations, it was like, 'Bring it on.' I've never seen her waver in confidence."

Pesature started playing tee-ball at 6 and was an extra player on the 12-U Rockets when she was 8.

"I never played, but I learned a lot that year," she says.

In the summer of 2000, Bill Pesature coached his daughter's team to the Little League World Series of softball in Portland, Ore. It had qualified by winning the district, section, state and Eastern regional titles. Three other current Bears - pitcher Kiersten Schramek and infielders Kristen Gallipani and Sam Chin - also starred on that 12-U team.

Bill Pesature, a New York City fireman, is responsible for building Katie's potent swing.

"I owe all the credit to my dad," she says. "He has been my coach since I was 9 or 10 and he always works with me. He sees the little things that most people don't."

Katie has also benefited from being the only girl with three older brothers. They all played sports at Brewster High and are her role models.

Andrew, 24, is a West Point graduate who has served two tours in Iraq. An Army Ranger, he's currently stationed in Fort Lewis, Wash. Dan, 22, graduates from West Point in May. James, 19, attends Dutchess Community College.

"They always were around to help me out whenever I needed. I always had someone to be with. I always tagged along trying to learn from what they did," Pesature says. "I don't compare myself to them but I try to live up to their standards because they've had a lot of accomplishments."

She recalls being in awe when Andrew earned a spot on Brewster's Wall of Fame.

"That's all I've ever wanted," she says.

Says Gosh: "It's a very intense family and she gets that from them."

Pesature's presence this season is an unexpected bonus for the Bears. Last August, she moved to Mt. Pleasant, S.C., and stayed with an aunt. The family is building a house in the area and plans to relocate after Katie graduates and her dad retires.

"I wanted to go," Pesature says. "I think I was just getting bored up here. It seemed so nice (down there). The weather was nice."

But she never clicked with the students at her parochial school and returned to Brewster.

"The kids weren't as friendly and I didn't really feel the Southern hospitality that you hear of," says Pesature, an outgoing teenager. "I didn't like it. I was miserable."

She got back in time to play five games with the field hockey team and has been getting primed for the softball season ever since.

"I'm having a lot of fun this year," Pesature says.

And she hasn't even manicured a batter's box or slashed an extra base hit yet.